Accessibility Links

When good intentions lead to awful crimes

Ben Macintyre

Like Oxfam, charities that sent British children to new lives in the empire were undermined by abusers

‘When empty cradles are contributing woefully to empty spaces, it is necessary to look for external sources of supply. If we do not supply from our own stock, we are leaving ourselves all the more exposed to the menace of the teeming millions of our neighbouring Asiatic races.” The Archbishop of Perth, welcoming child migrants to Australia in 1938.

The child migration scandal has rightly focused on the abuse inflicted on children sent to Australia and New Zealand after the war; on the cover-ups, official complicity and long overdue apologies. This week, the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) said that the 2,000 surviving migrants should be paid compensation immediately.

Taking thousands of children from their families and exporting them to a distant land where…

Want to read more?

Subscribe now and get unlimited digital access on web and our smartphone and tablet apps, free for your first month.